Now, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is in construction in the Exposition Park area of Los Angeles. This was not the originally intended location of the museum, however. It was first established in 2014, and San Francisco was supposed to be its home, as it is also the location of Lucasfilm and Skywalker Ranch. After San Francisco fell through, they set their sights on Chicago as their new home. That didn’t happen due to pushback from the Chicago-based environmental group Friends of the Parks.
In 2017, they secured the current Los Angeles location and were able to break ground the following year. Things seemed to be going fine, and then … the pandemic happened, which has of course put a massive strain on every single facet of everyone’s lives. That includes massive construction projects. Even though things have been opening up over the last year or so, supply chains are still limited, and the vision for the museum is still evolving. According to THR, construction is “currently focused on adding the panels that will clad the building, along with planting trees in the extensive park grounds.”
While I would love to be able to visit the Lucas Museum tomorrow, I hope that all the time they are taking to build it makes the experience wonderful for the folks like me who want to appreciate the art on display. Clearly, a lot of care is being put into this project, and if it takes until 2025 to experience it, so be it.
